Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1941)

ert. * the^gtion Picture dustry MOTION PICTURE DAILY i . 50. NO. 77 NEW YORK, U.S.A., FRIDAY. OCTOBER 17, 1941 TEN CENTS ara. May Ask ecree Escape n Minn. Sales *w's Will Not Sell in State Under Decree Tilde circles heard yesterday : it was likely that one major lpany, possibly Paramount, was 'sidering the advisability of gobefore Federal Judge Henry 1 Goddard, here, and ask him to Lt them special dispensation ler the New York case consent tee to sell their product in Minora other\vi>c than is condited by the decree terms. Loew's will not sell in Minne)ta. it was learned officially ?sterdav, while the decree is in Tect. aramount's procedure has not been irely clarified. One of the quests which must be answered is iher the intent of the move is to .Lr the way for selling only to its (.Continued on page 6) rosses on BVav Have Bright Week -UMness at Broadway first runs 1 up well this week in the w ake of very healthy Columbus Day holi! weekend. Most of the attractions e holdovers, and two pictures are (tinuing, "A Yank in the R. A. F.," •ch starts a fourth week today at Roxy, and "Honky Tonk." which .an a third week yesterday at the joitol. 'n its third week, "A Yank in the A. F.," with a stage show featurthe Nicholas Brothers, continued with an estimated gross of S52.000. (Continued on page 7) FP Canadian Gives Wage Increases Ranging Up to 10% Toronto, Oct. 16. — Increases in wages up to a maximum of 10 per cent went into effect this week for all theatre and home office employes of Famous Players Canadian Corp., across the Dominion, to meet the higher cost of living. The increase amounts to 10 per cent for all employes earning up to $25 per week, with progressive smaller percentages of increase in the higher salaried brackets. Managers of theatres only are exempted from the wage increase order, because they are able to participate in the distribution of business quota bonuses, based on the annual comparative receipts showing of each theatre. Ex-Gov. Brucker Arbiter in Detroit Wilber M. Brucker, former Governor of Michigan, has been designated arbitrator for the specific run complaint filed at the Detroit arbitration hoard against the five consenting companies by Irving A. Moss, owner of the Park-side Theatre, Detroit. The complaint names the Co-Operative Theatres of Michigan and the Paramount owned United Detroit Theatres as interested parties. A hearing date has not been set. Special interest attaches to the case due to the fact that it was among the first specific run complaints to be filed after Sept. 1, when the provisions of the (Continued on page 7) No Foundation toll A Bid Report : Bernhard Joseph Bernhard, president and general manager of Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp., when asked yesterday regarding reports that linked him with the presidency of United Artists, stated that they were "without foundation." "At first," he said, "these rumors were amusing but now they have become annoying. They are, of course, without foundation." Michel Tells Biof f Jury of $90,000 Fund \Y. C. Michel, executive vice-president of 20th Century-Fox, yesterday told Federal Court Judge John C. Knox and a jury in the trial of George E. Browne and William Bioff, that Sidney R. Kent, 20th-Fox president, called him on either April 23 or 25, 1936, the period of the basic pact conferences, and told him of the necessity of raising $90,000 in cash. The trial yesterday was recessed to Monday. The trial was interrupted during the afternoon to permit Dr. Harry Gold, heart specialist to testify that it would be impossible for Kent to testify either (Continued on page 6) \B. Release Dates Set on New Films ■radwell L. Sears, general sales jnager of Warners, has announced ;?ase dates on several new pictures, ley Died With Their Boots On" J^et for release Nov. 27 ; "The Man io Came to Dinner," Dec. 25 ; ,ing's Row," Jan. 1, 1942; "Captains the Clouds," Feb. 12, and "The de Animal," Feb. 22. }ther new films on which release es have not yet been set include : ridges Built at Night," "All rough the Night," "Wild Bill ckock Rides," "Remember Tomorv" and "You're in the Army Now." Technician Report Blow to English Production Plans London, Oct. 16.— The production plans of British and American producers here are seen as suffering a severe blow in the final recommendation of the joint industry-Government committee on technical manpower. The report, which will go to the Ministry of Labor, approved the immediate call for military service of younger men and the subsequent calling of older men within the military age range, with the exception of 450 key technicians whose call has been indefinitely deferred. It is hoped to train women to replace men in the meantime. The report pays lip-service to the need for continuity of production in British (Continued on page 7) Theatre Ads Not Cut In Newsdealer Strike No curtailment of theatre advertising in the eight New York newspapers at odds with the newsdealers is planned, it was learned yesterday. Some circuit advertising heads expressed the opinion that despite the newsdealers' boycott or strike the circulation of the dailies had not fallen off to an extent that would warrant such action. Late yesterday the State Mediation Board reported that peace negotiations are under way and it was hopeful of an early settlement. Meanwhile, publishers are making the papers available through crews of newsboys. Film Probe Hit As Censorship By LaGuardia Praises Film Defense Aid In Ampa Address By SHERWIN A. KANE Attacking the motives and method of procedure which brought about the Senate subcommittee's investigation of alleged motion picture propaganda, Mayor F. H. La Guardia yesterday congratulated the industry "for standing up toe to toe and fighting" those responsible for the "investigation." Speaking at the Ampa luncheon meeting at the Hotel Edison yesterday, Mayor LaGuardia indicated that he saw in the subcommittee's procedure an atempt to regulate the screen by extra-legal procedure. "If facts depicted on the screen," he said, "are to be subjected to censorship through intimidation, then the public might as well know it. All the liberty that is granted to the press should and must be granted to the (Continued on page 6) 9,200 Block Deals For Metro: Rodgers Loew's has closed approximately 5,700 deals with independent exhibitors for its first block of new season's product and 3,500 deals for the second block, William F. Rodgers, vice-president and general sales manager, reported yesterday. Rodgers cited the figures as illustrative of the smoothness with which selling under the decree system is progressing insofar as his company is concerned. "Never in the history of the company have we sold so rapidly," (Continued on page 6) William Fox to Be Sentenced Today Philadelphia, Oct. 16. — William Fox, bankrupt former film executive, will be sentenced tomorrow morning by Judge Guy K. Bard in U. S. District Court here on his plea of guilty of conspiracy to obstruct justice and defraud the United States. He was the Government's star witness in its two unsuccessful trials of Circuit Judge J. Warren Davis on similar charges.